Aside from that - I'm extremely happy to see Pavel Bure get his due. Him, Steve Yzerman, and Trevor Linden are my three favorite players of all-time.

If Bure got himself back in hockey shape and decided to come back, he'd be doing what Teemu Selanne is doing right now. Not saying that it will happen obviously, but just stating what I think is a fact.

I don't think they have truly reconciled until his number is in the rafters and not as a ring of honour guy, but his number retired. I love what the steamer and Linden did for the team/community/organization (hell I think thanks to Linden the league has the basis of a CBA and linked cap system that saved the league and game and he should get builder credit), but Bure was far and away the best skater this organization has ever had. It is a damn shame IMO that he goes into the Hall and his number isn't in the rafters.

Fuck - that 1994 run was a thing of beauty. McLean, Bure, Linden. All great players that took their game to a completely new level when the playoffs hit. Luongo did the same thing in 2007, and Kesler did the same thing for the first 2 rounds of the 2011 playoffs (before getting injured), and at the 2010 Olympics.

Naslund could never do it. The twins, while still good players, just can't seem to do it. In both cases, the level of play of these players didn't go DOWN........but it didn't go up either.

Just wish we had a Joe Sakic type guy or a Dustin Brown.................or better yet, the 1994 version of Bure. THAT guy scared the living crap out of opponents on almost every single shift.

Not sure if this has been already asked, but which uniform will he go into the HHOF as ? He played for Vcr, Florida and NYR.

Bure scared the crap out of every opponent. I can't recall any one as dynamic with his rushes down ice. He brought the entire building to it's feet. A thing of magic. Orr used to bring fans out there seats and LaFleur had the Pacific Coliseum groaning. But Bure absolutely insane

tantalum wrote:I don't think they have truly reconciled until his number is in the rafters and not as a ring of honour guy, but his number retired. I love what the steamer and Linden did for the team/community/organization (hell I think thanks to Linden the league has the basis of a CBA and linked cap system that saved the league and game and he should get builder credit), but Bure was far and away the best skater this organization has ever had. It is a damn shame IMO that he goes into the Hall and his number isn't in the rafters.

Just make sure you don't put it next to Linden's.....

Given how Bure walked out on the team in the Summer of 1998 (even though he was 100% justified if the rumors are true), I'm not sure if the Canucks' organization will ever give the jersey retirement to Bure. I personally wouldn't have a problem with it however.

donlever wrote:He stated that when Pavel got here he was literally off the charts physically in comparison to the rest of the group and that after his arrival it became a scenario where guys got into "Pavel Bure shape" instead of the "hockey shape" they had previously strived for.

Yeah Pavel's dad was his trainer, really put him through the paces.

I remember his dad getting mad when, after his first few years, Pavel began to PAR TAY.

Vladimir Bure, a Russian swimming legend, had dreams of Pavel becoming a professional swimmer, but Pavel aspired to play hockey at an early age. He attended his first tryout with the CSKA Moscow hockey school at the age of six despite his limited skating ability. Until that point, Bure had only played hockey on the streets with a ball.

After Bure failed to impress in his first tryout, his father told him that if he did not show significant improvement within two months, he would withdraw him from the hockey school.

By age 11, he was named the best forward in his league. Around that time, in July 1982, Bure was selected as one of three young Russian players to practice with Wayne Gretzky and Soviet national goaltender Vladislav Tretiak in a taped television special. By the time he was 14 years old, he was named to the Central Red Army's junior team

Apparently he was also a fitness consultant with the Canucks during Bures time here which ties into Ronnings story.

[i]Vladimir Bure, a Russian swimming legend.... a fitness consultant with the Canucks during Bures time here...

Yeah, that's the guy, he used to train Pavel in Russia before they came over, but Pavel was listening to him less & less. They eventually had a big fight over the issue of less-partying/more-training. Last I heard they hadn't spoken in years. Wonder if they ever patched it up?